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Miguel Cairo

5 Minor League Deals That Shaped The Pennant Race

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Most MLBTR readers said R.A. Dickey was the best minor league signing of the year when we voted earlier in the month, but the Mets fell out of contention long ago, so Dickey didn't have much of an impact on this year's pennant race. The five minor league deals below had lasting effects on the 2010 pennant race:

  • Rays sign Joaquin Benoit – The reliever has a 1.39 ERA in 61 games with 11.1 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. Amazingly, Benoit has allowed just 28 hits in 58.1 innings.
  • Reds sign Miguel Cairo – There are bigger stars on the Reds, but Cairo has batted .289/.352/.411 and played all four infield positions. Cincinnati GM Walt Jocketty deserves credit for this find.
  • Yankees sign Marcus Thames – Thames has hit .287/.352/.500 this year with 12 homers in 227 plate appearances.
  • Giants sign Pat Burrell – GM Brian Sabean bought low on Burrell, who has responded with 17 homers and an .869 OPS in San Francisco. Burrell is playing the way he did in 2008 and without that kind of production, the Giants probably wouldn't be leading the NL West.
  • Padres sign Chris Denorfia – Denorfia has hit .264/.332/.435 in 302 plate appearances for the Padres, who have seen outfielders Tony Gwynn and Kyle Blanks miss significant time with injuries.

Minor League Transactions: Mench, Perez, Cairo

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A 25 homer hitter, a former first rounder and a 14-year veteran signed this week. Baseball America's Matt Eddy has the details on those transactions and more. Here are some highlights from January 25th-31st:

  • The Nationals signed Kevin Mench. The 32-year-old didn't play in the majors last year, but he hit 25 homers as recently as 2005. He has a career .900 OPS against lefties.
  • The Blue Jays signed Wade Townsend. The Rays released the 2005 first rounder last summer, but the Jays are giving him a chance. 
  • The Reds signed Miguel Cairo. The 14-year-veteran posted a .705 OPS for the Phillies last year in 47 plate appearances. 
  • The White Sox signed Daniel Cabrera. The 6'7'' right-hander led the American League in walks and earned runs allowed when he logged over 200 innings for the Orioles in 2007. He split time with the D'Backs and Nationals last year, struggling with both clubs.  
  • The Dodgers signed Timo Perez out of the Can-Am League. The 34-year-old surfaced as a rookie for the Mets in the 2000 Subway Series. 
  • The Phillies signed Freddy Guzman. 
  • The Mets signed Val Pascucci, who has 193 minor league homers to his name.

Odds & Ends: Phillies, Hendrickson, Sheets, Brewers, Hinske

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A few links to start the day…

Phillies Free Agent Notes

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MLB.com's Todd Zolecki runs down the Phillies offseason, looking at how the club is planning to improve coming off back-to-back World Series appearances. Here's some highlights:

  • The Phillies are looking to upgrade at third base, as we've heard before. Chone Figgins figures to be too expensive for their liking, and they'll look for a shorter, more affordable contract. Zolecki names the same possibilities we heard earlier in the week: Adrian Beltre, Mark DeRosa, and Placido Polanco.
  • Philadelphia has interest in Fernando Rodney, but it may not be mutual, as Rodney likely would prefer a team with whom he can close. As Zolecki writes, that is "not an option" in Philly.
  • The Phillies have seven impending free agents: Paul Bako, Miguel Cairo, Scott Eyre, Pedro Feliz, Pedro Martinez, Chan Ho Park, Matt Stairs, and Jack Taschner. Zolecki says Park and Eyre are the two most likely to return, with Ruben Amaro Jr. already having contacted Park's agent.
  • Bako's return hasn't been ruled out, but Amaro has said that he's seeking a backup catcher. Feliz is in a similar situation, with his return not being ruled out but the team looking to upgrade.
  • If Stairs returns, it will be on a minor league contract. Taschner and Martinez are not expected to return.
  • The futures for Eric Bruntlett, Clay Condrey, and Tyler Walker are in question.

Phillies Set Their Roster

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The Phillies added Miguel Cairo to the 25-man roster today, presumably ending the club's search for a right-handed reserve player.  David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a short review of that hunt:

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has spent a lot of time looking for ways to upgrade the bench, particularly late in spring training. There was the highly-publicized flirtation with Gary Sheffield. There was the hope that Andruw Jones would fail to win a roster spot with the Rangers. Earlier in the offseason, there was an attempted wooing of Nomar Garciaparra.

But in the Phillies situation, it proved difficult to convince the type of player they hoped to attract to sign with the team. Sheffield, Garciaparra, Jones, Ty Wigginton — all signed with teams where the opportunity for playing time was far greater than the Phillies could guarantee.

Cairo, 34, hit .249/.316/.330 with 23 RBI in 221 at-bats for Seattle last season.  He hasn't gone yard in over 900 plate appearances, but should make for a versatile option in the infield.

Odds and Ends: Mantei, Foulke, Cairo, Guardado

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Here are this morning’s random rumors and links.

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